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We wear the mask that grins and lies, It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,-- This debt we pay to human guile; With torn and bleeding hearts we smile, And mouth with myriad subtleties. Why should the world be over-wise, In counting all our tears and sighs? Nay, let them only see us, while We wear the mask. We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries To thee from tortured souls arise. We sing, but oh the clay is vile Beneath our feet, and long the mile; But let the world dream otherwise, We wear the mask!
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 - 1906), "We wear the mask" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "We wear the mask", 2009 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Brittney Elizabeth Boykin (b. 1989), "We wear the mask", 2020 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Sheila Silver (b. 1946), "We Wear the Mask", 1995, first performed 1995 [ baritone and piano ], from Transcending; Three Songs for Michael Dash in memoriam, no. 3, Argenta Music
Publisher: Sheila Silver [external link] [sung text not yet checked] - by Richard Thompson (b. 1954), "We wear the mask", 1999 [ soprano and piano ], from The Shadow of Dawn: Five Poems by Paul Laurence Dunbar, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Trevor Weston (b. 1967), "The mask", 1999 [ baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Walter A. Aue) , "Wir tragen die Maske", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-04-05
Line count: 15
Word count: 98
Die Maske tragen wir, die lügt, die Wang' verbirgt, das Auge trübt, - so zahlen wir für Menschenlist: das Herz zerbricht, doch Lächeln sprießt und unser Worte Schwall betrügt. Warum soll denn versteh'n die Welt, welch' Tränen sie und Seufzer zählt? Sie soll nur seh'n uns als vergnügt, und nur maskiert. Wir lächeln, doch der Schrei - Oh Christ! - aus tief gequälter Seele fließt; wir singen, doch wie hart der Steg auf dem wir gehn, wie lang der Weg! Mach' nur, daß dies die Welt nicht spürt: Wir sind maskiert!
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2010 by Walter A. Aue, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Walter A. Aue. Contact: waue (AT) dal (DOT) ca
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Based on:
- a text in English by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 - 1906), "We wear the mask"
This text was added to the website: 2010-03-23
Line count: 15
Word count: 88